www.cjtu.org

June 2024

General Meeting

Tuesday, June 11th, 2024

Annual Picnic Meeting

CJTU is having our annual picnic on June 11 at the American Legion in the grove behind the hall. If it rains, it will be held upstairs in our normal meeting location.

This year we are changing up the menu with brisket, pulled pork, cole slaw, macaroni and potato salads, chips, water and soda. The cost of the event is $20.00 per person.

This will be catered affair so we need to know in advance the number of people attending, therefore we cannot allow people to pay on the day of the event. The cut off date for payment is May 31st.

You can pay at the April or May meeting by giving John Wester cash or a check, or you can mail a check to:

Marsha Benovengo
3 Regency Way
Manalapan NJ 07726

Please make sure to include your phone number with the check!

There are no General Meetings in July and August. See you in September!

Meeting Location

American Legion Hall
137 New Market Road
Dunellen, NJ

Meeting starts at 8:00 PM - Non Members are always welcome!

News & Events

The Last Spring Point Mountain Stocking

The CJTU stocking team concluded the spring stocking of the Point Mountain stretch on May 24th when we put over 200 fish into the river. So far this spring we stocked over 1600 fish in the stretch. Working with Hunterdon County we spread the fish along the stream from the Point Mountain bridge to a point about a mile upstream Since this area is a TCA, trout conservation area, you can only take 1 fish a day over 15 inches. Most of the fish should hold over and provide good fishing throughout the year.

We will have one more stocking in the fall where we will put some bigger fish in the river. Thanks to all of the volunteers who helped out during the spring stockings.

Ed Kordyla, CJTU Stocking Coordinator

Fly of the Month

Rich’s Ultimate Worm, Greatly Downsized

Tied by Bill Ninke

Rich’s original worm surround by many downsized versions

Rich McElligott lives 80 miles west of Chicago surrounded only by warm water rivers (Fox, Kishwaukee and Kankakee) which hold smallmouths and private ponds stocked with largemouths.. What does he fish for? These bass, of course. And when many of his friends are doing well using spinning gear and Texas-rigged plastic worms but he likes fly fishing, what does he do? He invents a fly built on a EWG worm hook using only yarn and an innovative wrapping technique that he can throw with a fly rod and that catches bass as well as a plastic worm. Fittingly, he names the fly Rich’s Ultimate Worm and submits it to Rainy’s Flies who accept his design and now tie it commercially for sale in Fly Shops around the country.

I first learned of Rich and his yarn wrapping technique in a blog post by Joe Cornwall on the Fly Fish Ohio web site back in 2011. The featured pattern was another of Rich’s, the Shannon’s Streamer. But other patterns were mentioned so I contacted Rich to learn more about them. This resulted in his describing to me his “Worm” pattern. I immediately tied it and tried it with good results. In the Spring of 2012, I even taught the pattern in one of the Workshop Tying Sessions we used to hold at CJTU. Some of the attendees are still around and may remember the lesson. Bart Lombardo even documented the session. (https://thejerseyangler.blogspot.com/2012/04/perfect-bass-fly_29.html)

Over the subsequent years I’ve fished the “Worm” with good results in local farm and park ponds. But it’s tied on a 1/0 hook and consists of a foot of bulky chenille yarn which absorbs a lot of water. So it requires an 8 wgt rod to fish it comfortably. In the last few years I’ve become enamored of using a Tenkara rod for my warm water fishing. And, while Rich’s Worm can be “launched” using a Tenkara setup rather than cast, it’s unpleasant fishing. So I set out to downsize the pattern. And, in doing so, I’ve created a version that pleasant to fish with my Tenkara setup, catches bass and panfish well, and also is a weed defying version of a Squirmy Wormy that fishes well for trout on a regular fly rod setup.

The downsizing started with the hook. I used the smallest EWG worm hook I could find, the Gamakatsu 5841 in size 4. I then examined many small fuzzy yarns that when wrapped would create a nice worm shape. Eventually I settled on Premier Pixie Dust Brights. This yarn is available in many colors at Joann’s and many online stores. My small worm is then just the hook, thread and two lengths of the yarn. A 5-1/2 inch length is furled and attached just behind the hook eye. A 10 inch length is then also attached just behind the hook eye and wrapped back and forth around the furled piece and tied off at the hook eye. The result is impaled with the hook point just as you would Texas rig a plastic worm. More detailed instructions are included below.

If you want to tie the original larger worm, you can access the following video of Rich tying it. https://www.courier-journal.com/videos/news/local/2014/01/26/4914275/ The Paton’s Bohemian yarn he favors is manufacture discontinued but you can use Bernat Blanket Yarn instead. I use a slightly different wrapping technique for my small worm than Rich does just due to the differences in the diameters of the yarns used.

In the photo I show an original version and many colors of my small version. As you look at them ask yourself do any of them look like a leech, or an earthworm, or a minnow? Or maybe a caterpillar, a salamander, a large San Juan Worm, a Greenie Weenie, or a Squirmy Wormie? Yes, they look like a lot of food items. I have fished mostly the pinkish versions so far based on the experience that a pink Squirmy works well for all fish species. But all colors work. Bass have shown particular favor to the black with red hook version probably thinking it to be a leech.

You can send comments, questions and suggestions to Bill at fotm@cjtu.org

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